Focusing on current affairs and public relations, the Uncaged PR blog will look at my views on the world through the eyes of a PR student.

12/04/2010

Google AdWords vs SEO - Part three

After a long wait for part three in this series of blog posts, we are finally here. I have managed to find time in the day to actually write up and review search engine optimisation (SEO) and Google AdWords.

I have to say that over the last few weeks since part one in this mini series, many people have taken their time to help write the blog entries and share their views. Thank you to all of those involved and to those who have taken time to read each post.

SEO

My first a major concern regarding SEO is that Google are changing their algorithm almost daily. The changes in Google's algorithm are making it harder for those keen on SEO to ensure you are at the top of a natural search on Google.

The benefit for any SEO business would be that when Google changes its algorithm they can yet again charge their client for more work. The issue is that I just can't see how young PR professionals can afford this kind of service.

Now you could argue that it should be the responsibility of that certain PR professional to study SEO for themselves and ensure they are high up the ladder in Google's natural search. However this requires a certain amount of expertise and can be very time consuming.

Without any real help for specialist SEO businesses, the maintained dedicated the editing your website, adding keywords and hiding words within your HTML, I can only see a limited benefit to SEO. It would be my advice that the best way to increase your online presence would be to ensure you have good content on your website or blog, but mainly to get interactive with other bloggers. By getting interactive, leaving comments and feedback on other websites or blogs, you could find that you are making quite a name for yourself. The more clicks your site gets, the better your SEO. I also think it is also vital to remember that you need to make regular updates on your site and blog, and key it relevant.

Google AdWords

During the last few weeks those who have taken time out to talk to me regarding have all shared the same views of Google AdWords.

This factor in Google AdWords seems to be the one thing that is putting people off using Google AdWords. That factor, is nothing more than the coloured outline that surrounds your advert, as seen below.

It is my opinion and quite a few others that this outline alone would be the reason why people wouldn't click on your ad. The general view is that this outline just makes the advert look unreliable and untrustworthy. It is important to state that after further discussion around this factor that we all concluded that we are all big users of the internet and very sceptical of ads online. For those who are not regular users of the internet this ad may look more appealing, but the users at that time would have to be the judge.

Once again money is the main downfall to this tool. It seems the more money you have, the more you can pay for the certain keywords you want. For those who have a bottomless pit of money, they can easily rule Google AdWords without worrying about the threat from small businesses.

Conculsion

The major factor that dominates both of these tools is the one thing that makes the world go round. I wish that factor was love, but its money.

There is no doubt that Google AdWords could easily be dominated by the big players in the world. It's good when you have a friend at Google who sets you up a free account, but should BBC writer Andrew Davies decide he wants to get into PR, he could easily pay Google more money for the keywords that I currently "pay" for.

The same needs to be said for SEO. SEO is only as good as the company running your SEO activity or as long as you are constantly updating your content and refining your SEO tactics. The organisations with large sums of money will once again be able to dominate in this area.

Money aside, it is my view that young PR professionals should be looking more towards SEO as a way to get further up in a Google natural search. I believe we should all take a little time to study SEO and find some quick and easy tactics to improve your Google ranking. However, I truly believe it is more important to keep updating your blog with relevant and interesting content and use social media to improve your ranking and visits to your site/blog.

Comments and feedback

Please feel free to provide any comments and feedback. I'd like to encourage a debate on this subject and that is only possible with your help. Any sensible comments will be published on this blog.

Comments

World famous blog it is. How exciting, I will certainly take a look at the new blog!
Google's algorithm are making it harder for those keen on SEO to ensure you are at the top of a natural search on Google. Nicely written. Thanks for sharing this post so much.

Without good content and maintenance, investing in either of the two methods would be ineffective. The Pros and Cons have been thoroughly discussed, and those new to SEO would do good to take note of these. Keep it up!